This invention relates to bend dies, and more particularly, to bend dies which produce multiple bends within tubing.
Tubing often is used to carry pressurized fluids from one location to another. The tubing is installed after assembly of major components and must be routed around obstructions to complete a fluid circuit. Such routing may require compound bends in the tubing.
Typically, compound bends are formed using manual or automated bending machines. To form compound bends, the tubing often must be located in multiple pre-bending tubing positions to securely position the tubing while the tubing is bent. Multiple clamps are used to hold the tubing in place. However, a straight section of tubing between clamps typically is required to form the desired bends. The straight section length is typically a minimum of two to three times a diameter of the tubing.
To form a compound bend having bends closer together than possible with known manual or automated bending machines, a portion of the desired bends is formed on several pieces of tubing. The separate pieces are then welded together to form a single tube having the desired compound bends. Alternatively, a first portion of the compound bend is formed using a bending machine and a first clamp block, and a second clamp block is manufactured to include a second portion of the desired compound bend and used with the bending machine to form a second portion of the compound bend. The process is repeated with as many clamp blocks as necessary until the desired compound bend is formed in a single piece of tubing.
Welding multiple sections of tubing together to form a single tubing having the desired compound bends, produces tubing that does not have the structural integrity of non-welded tubing. Creating a compound bend using multiple clamp blocks forms a compound bend in tubing that maintains the structural integrity of non-welded tubing, but is much more laborious and cumbersome to form. Multiple assembly set-ups and clamp block manufacturing increases the time necessary to form a desired compound bend in tubing.